Leadership by Algorithm

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change life, society and business.

As AI becomes a factor in society and daily life and business operations, it will follow Moore’s Law: This change will accelerate rapidly, leading to an unrecognizable future even by 2030. AI and algorithms may seize the reins of business, and make every decision, whether it’s mundane or strategic.

Algorithms might be faster and smarter than humans, but they function without feelings or empathy. Machines won’t develop a consciousness or evil intent. They can take over only if humans let them.

Three ingredients – ubiquitous data; fast, powerful and cheap computing; and inexpensive data storage – emerged only recently, as have AI’s greatest feats, including defeating world champion Go players, learning how to perform medical diagnoses and assisting in legal judgments.

AI appears ready to boost world economies by making business and people more efficient and effective. Workers now can offload mundane, repetitive work to machines to focus on more meaningful tasks requiring uniquely human skills. Most business leaders plan to invest heavily in machine-learning solutions...